Mother’s Day arrived and brought with it pleasant spring weather. My Mother’s Day treat was not going out to lunch but figuring out how to build my compost bin. My husband in the meantime got busy ousting winter debris around the yard.
The first step was to haul all of my pallets from the front driveway to the backyard. Pallets are not that heavy, but they are awkward if you have any distance to carry them. So while my husband mowed and raked, I began gathering my materials to build my bin.
A friend of mine gave me several 4 foot metal fence post last year. At the time I didn’t know what I was going to do with them, but I knew they might come in handy at some point. Cross referencing multiple how to instructions on building a compost bin using wood pallets… a few folks suggested using metal fence posts pounded into the ground first, then sliding the pallets down over the posts to secure the corners. I didn’t know if the posts would be hard to get into the ground with a mallet or not, so I purchased a post pounder from Home Depot. I must warn you, while post pounders do a good job, they are not cheap. The one I purchased set me back $30. bucks. If you don’t know what a post pounder is, it is a heavy iron pipe capped on one end with welded handles on the side. To use it, position the pounder over the post that you want to place into the ground and centering it the best you can (if you are working alone), allow the pounder to drop. The weight of the pipe drops with about 17 lbs. of pressure and pounds the post into the ground. You can see the red post pounder in the foreground in the photo below.
Post Pounder
It really didn’t take that long to build the bin. But after the bin was completed I just didn’t like the looks of it. To begin with, the location was too close to my neighbor’s house and it was on a slight incline making it look very cobbled together at best. The bin didn’t feel that secure and I found that I had to wire together some of the panels, which increased the look of poor construction. Also, I really didn’t like the look of the green metal fence posts that were aligned haphazardly. There was no help for their alignment because I was working by myself and even though the pallets wouldn’t fall over, it just wouldn’t do.
Pallet with Metal Fence Post
So, being a perfectionist even when it comes to a compost bin, I tore the whole thing down. I pondered where to build it next and the logical conclusion was to build it with a lower visual profile as compost bins are not exactly high on aesthetics. The other common sense light bulb that went off in my brain was to situate it near my future hen house. The new location as you can see is more level and sans green metal fence posts. I decided instead to use wood deck screws to anchor the corners of each pallet together. In case you are like me and hate vague descriptions I will describe exactly how I did it.
DIY Easy Compost Bin
5 or more good condition wooden pallets
A handful of wood deck screws
A good cordless drill (my drill cost $5.00 at Wal-Mart and functions more on encouragement than power).
How to DIY Easy Compost Bin instructions.
- Lay one panel down flat on level ground. Before doing so, you might want to stand it up first so you can see which direction you want your pallet slates to be aligned.
- Stand another pallet on top of the pallet that is laying flat, get your edges and corners as flush as you can, then pre-drill a small hole for your wood screw. You need to drill it all the way through one pallet and into the other. You might have to use your knee and your body to steady the standing pallet. Make sure your pets aren’t hanging around in case it should fall on them.
- After you have your hole drilled, screw the 2 pallet panels together and stand the entire thing up the way you want it to be before you add the other panels.
- That was the hardest part. Now just line up your other pallet panels getting the corners and sides as flush with each other as you can and pre-drill holes in the corners and tighten down with the wood screws. Be sure you are adding each consecutive pallet with the slats oriented the same direction.
I am so proud of my funky pallet compost bin. It cost me a massage in trade but if you have your own way of hauling pallets you can get yours free. Because acquiring pallets have been uppermost on my mind, I have started noticing wood pallets free for the taking all over town.
DIY Easy Compost Bin
Woman built. A strong sturdy compost bin. I am thinking about adding some sort of sides to keep the pile warmer and moister and to keep my critters out.
The Upstart Garden 